The diamonds are ploted for values of first settlement day and total
cumulative settlement among twelve settlement plates monitored over 140
consecutive days in 2006. The negative correlation suggests two
possible explanations: first that larval supply is variable between the
haphazardly located settlement plates spaced over Gardiner beach in
Woods Hole. Alternatively, barnacle larvae exhibit settlement behavior
that descriminates between these settlement plates, though the surface
of plates are standardized to minimize the contact based habitat cues
to barnacle larvae. It is likely some combination of these two
factors, as indicated by various other lines of evidence.